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Super Bowl LI Predictions

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The Super Bowl is here! That’s right, only one game remains of the NFL season and it is looking to be one of the most exciting games in NFL History. NFL Network Analyst and former NFL Wide Receiver, Nate Burleson even said, “This could be the best Super Bowl of all time!” Super Bowl LI will put the NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons up against the AFC Champion New England Patriots. The Patriots are going to their seventh Super Bowl in fifteen years while the Falcons are only going to their first since 1998! Still, both teams possess the ability to tremendous things and even if you are not a Football fan you be wanting to watch this game! Last year’s Super Bowl drew 111.9 Million viewers and most people thought it was, “boring,” so you can only imagine what will happen when two of the highest scoring offenses in the NFL meet each other this year! Below you will find Kaleb Curtis and myself with our predictions on the Super Bowl. Kaleb is a Falcons fan so I decided to roll with the Patriots. Here’s the rundown of what to expect in the big game!

For the Patriots the goal is simple: STOP JULIO JONES! Matt Ryan is a great Quarterback but that means nothing if you take his weapons away from him. We have seen the Patriots do this to many teams in the past like the Steelers, Texans, and many others which is why they are here in the Super Bowl. People who accuse the Patriots of being, “Cheaters,” do not understand Football. Statistics show that the Falcons actually cheat more than the Patriots do! The Patriots are well coached and have great personnel and that is why you have to respect their chances to win this game. Expect Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels to use a lot of short passing concepts early on with Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola, late in the game strike deep down the field with Chris Hogan and Martellus Bennett, and then close the game out with their fierce running backs LeGarrette Blount and Dion Lewis. Defensive Coordinator Matt Patricia will likely put Malcolm Butler in man coverage on Julio Jones and have Patrick Chung trail over the top of him in Zone Coverage similar to how they handle T.Y. Hilton when they play the Colts. You can also expect the Patriots Special Teams to make big plays all night long!

Jake’s Final Score Prediction: Patriots: 31 – Falcons: 27

With only their 2nd Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, Matt Ryan and the Falcons plan to make this one a win. With Dan Quinn as head coach, who has coached 3 of the last 4 Super Bowls (not including this one), the Falcons seem to be set for this game. For the Falcons the game plan is simple, keep Tom Brady and his offense off of the field. On the defensive side of the ball, keep the Patriots run game to a minimum while covering Chris Hogan and Julian Edelman. Keep in mind, Tom Brady doesn’t have his #1 receiver to throw to in these playoffs (Rob Gronkowski). In a game that should’ve been an easy win for the Patriots against Houston (ended 34-16), you start to think, “Maybe this team isn’t as good as everyone says.” Much like the Green Bay and Seattle games in the divisional/conference championship games, the Falcons plan to have a high scoring game. On the offense for the Falcons, they can attack you in the run game, they can attack you by airing it out and they can also do short passes. Matt Ryan this year led the league in most receivers targeted (13). So expect to see him hit multiple targets come Super Bowl Sunday. But anyways as I stated before, simply just keep Tom Brady off of the field.

Kaleb’s Final Score Prediction: Falcons: 36 – Patriots: 30

This Super Bowl will be one to remember for sure. You will see plays that you might have never seen before, interesting personalities clashing, and who knows what. Wherever you watch be safe and have a good time!